Backyard Makeovers From Issue 5, 2016

Brutal and fast death-metal with twisted double-tracked vocals from Kam Lee, resulting in a cross between Mercyful Fate and Death. The deadliest of death-metal always comes from Florida, and this is no exception.

Bamako-based producer/educator Paul Chandler has been documenting the sonic and cultural complexities of Malian traditional music for more than a decade and “Every Song Has Its End” is an out-of-time, visceral collection of sounds from Chandler’s unparalleled archive.

On the new album: A fantastic new album from one of the best German Bands. Fire From The Soul combines all elements you can expect from a new Epitaph album in 2016: singing twin-guitars and sparkling rock songs with choral singing for several voices. This album is surprising all along the line through the steady quality from first to last song…

As a unit, this must be one of the best piano trios ever, and certainly as instantly recognisable as any of its great predecessors. Charlap’s touch on the keyboard is light, almost stealthy, even when playing full chords, but always firm, clear and beautifully articulated. With the spirited support of bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington (famously unrelated), the total effect is just perfect. As always, Charlap’s playing provides convincing proof that it is still possible to create fresh but pertinent treatments of well-known standard songs. The son of a songwriter and a singer, he has an instinctive feel for the idiom. His versions here of I’ll Remember April and A Sleepin’ Bee are masterly.

Even though they started out on Musea, EGOBAND is another Mellow Records Italian obscurity. What does that mean? It means it's hard to find band information. But there is enough to paint a picture. The first album's lineup consisted of Alessandro Accordino on vocals and keyboards,
Fabio Cioni on drums,
Massimo Fava on guitars, and Alfonso Capasso on bass. However, only Accordino and Capasso would be consistent with the group over its four-album career. This, along with the fact that there were no live efforts, leads to speculation that EGOBAND may have been more of a project than a band (a la Steely Dan). They went through interesting changes over their career. Starting out purely Neo, with heavy AOR tendencies, and ending up almost in Canterbury territory by the time they got to "Earth"…